In English 21.3.2025

Superpowers harnessed for the European PIONEER Alliance cooperation

Teksti | Mika Launikari

”You know Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman, Lara Croft and Spider-Man, but do you recall the most famous superhero of all – yourself?” This superhero motto, taken from the well-known Christmas song by Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer (Asteriski ry/University of Turku 2025), was the guiding principle when the Laurea PIONEER team, together with student representatives from the Laureamko Student Union, met in the run-up to Christmas 2024 to reflect on their special superpowers. Their individual and collective abilities were articulated and made visible during the event.

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Photo by LIGHTFIELD STUDIOS / Adobe Stock (Laurea Education-licence)

‘Together we are more’ is the motto of the Laurea experts involved in the European PIONEER university cooperation 2025-2028. Laurea’s PIONEER core activities involve around 30 representatives from management, teaching, RDI, ecosystem cooperation, administration (finance, IT, HR), communication and international services. Representatives of Laurea’s student organisation, Laureamko, also participate in the PIONEER activities, bringing a valuable student perspective to the development work of the European PIONEER Alliance of ten higher education institutions.

Not all the Laurea experts and student representatives involved in the PIONEER work know each other or have worked together before. It was therefore considered important to come together to reflect on the knowledge and skills – the real superpowers – that everyone brings to the joint work of Laurea and the European PIONEER Alliance. This interactive event made it possible to get to know each other and to create a good team spirit.

Superpowers do not mean supernatural abilities

Although comic books, science fiction and Hollywood movies portray superheroes as characters with superhuman abilities and omnipotent wonders, in real life we do not use superpowers to mean supernatural abilities. It is more a matter of having developed our own natural strengths, talents and inclinations in a particular direction over the years, in our careers or in other areas of our lives. Then one day we realise that a rough and tumble novice has matured into a master of his or her full potential. One’s skill set has developed over the years through study, work, leisure, interaction and collaboration with others. Equally, it has become an important superpower for the individual to nurture and strengthen for the future.

Superpower does not mean that you have to be perfect in strength or superior in action. For the purposes of this article, identifying superpower is primarily about seeing the good in yourself and others. The idea of superpower reflects how we want to see ourselves and how we want others to see us. Superpower is about what we value in ourselves and how we communicate that to others. However, it is not natural for all of us to articulate or express our own superpowers, and instead we tend to downplay our own special skills and qualities. After all, as ’humble Finns’, we do not want to boast or gain a reputation as people who, without any obvious and universally accepted justification, consider themselves somehow superior to others. Of course, what we mean by superpowers is nothing of the sort.

Instead of diminishing ourselves, we are allowed to put ourselves in the limelight and make an appropriate noise about our merits. There is no reason to hide in a dark corner or keep our mouths shut when there is a real opportunity to showcase and articulate our superpowers. If you are still not sure what your superpower is, or it seems to be missing, it is worth ’shouting out to a friend’ and asking a colleague. They’ll have lots of encouraging, supportive and inspiring things to say about what they value in you and your abilities. They are likely to see a treasure in you that you may not have fully discovered yourself.

At work, results are achieved through collaboration

Today’s working life requires us to collaborate purposefully and effectively with experts from different fields in a variety of configurations. In today’s global context, complex societal problems and challenges cannot be solved without cross-disciplinary understanding and knowledge. Even if each of us has a superpower or ’talent’ honed to a fine edge, it is rarely enough to solve multidisciplinary and multiprofessional problems without the superpowers of other experts. Bringing different talents together can be a meaningful and rewarding learning experience, giving you insight into what your own superpower can ultimately do, bend and transform in different situations, and how it complements the superpowers of others.

In December 2024, during the Laurea internal team building event, the superpowers that each Laurea and Laureamko expert brings to PIONEER were discussed and made visible. In summary, the superpowers were divided into three main categories: professional, international and personal competences, all of which will be useful for European cooperation in higher education between 2025 and 2028.

Professional superpowers are essentially related to the core activities of higher education institutions at national and international level and the administrative processes that support them, such as

  • Understanding of systems and having leadership skills at organisational, network, project and team level
  • Knowledge and implementation of national and European higher education policies and strategies
  • Knowledge of teaching content, pedagogy, didactics, methodology and quality management in education and training
  • Competence in research, development and innovation and coordination of RDI cooperation in Laurea, in the Uusimaa region and in European university networks
  • Competence in working life and cooperation with stakeholders, including long-term and systematic development of regional activities
  • IT, HR, finance and communication skills that permeate all higher education activities and project cooperation.

Laurea has a lot of useful and concrete expertise to offer to international superpowers, of which the following can be mentioned in particular:

  • Extensive EU management and administrative expertise and in-depth knowledge of EU education and research programmes
  • Expertise acquired and accumulated through international networking and, as a result, extensive networks in Europe and the rest of the world
  • Not only a good command of English, but also a good command of other foreign languages (e.g. German, French, Italian, Spanish, Swedish)
  • Knowledge of different cultures and strong intercultural communication and interaction skills, including diplomacy, sensitivity (awareness of taboos) and a sense of style.

There are so many superpowers related to the personal qualities and personality traits of Laurea’s experts and Laureamko’s student representatives, which are certainly needed in the PIONEER cooperation, that we can only mention some of them here, such as 

  • Encouraging, inspiring and motivating others
  • Listening and giving space and time to others, being present in the moment
  • Creating a positive and relaxed atmosphere and a safe space
  • Bringing together strategic level policies and operational level activities
  • Being bold, taking risks and trying things fearlessly
  • Asking silly and stupid questions and daring to challenge the status quo
  • Being approachable and empathetic, allowing people to open up and tell their stories
  • Bringing energy, enthusiasm, creativity and wild ideas to what we do together
  • Simplifying, streamlining and popularising complexity

People thrive when they use their professional superpowers and personal qualities. They are strong, resilient, committed and willing to help others and work for mutual success. For them it is not just about themselves, it is about much more than that, it is about other people. They put their superpowers at the service of others, extending their influence beyond themselves into the world around them. This is where pure magic begins to happen of its own accord.

Transparency is the basis for mutual trust between team members

When setting up the new, broad-based PIONEER team at Laurea, meetings and informal encounters play an important role in building trust. An important prerequisite for efficient, high-quality and engaging collaboration is that all team members know each other sufficiently as individuals and experts and know what competences, specific skills and strengths they can expect from their colleagues (Coun, Peters & Blomme 2019). Mutual trust is the sum of many factors, but it is usually created and strengthened by positive experiences of working together (Harisalo & Miettinen 2010).

Openly sharing ideas and questions, making time for shared wondering, and maintaining a constructive and supportive feedback culture will hopefully create an atmosphere in which all participants in PIONEER activities have the opportunity to grow as individuals and develop as experts (Aira 2012). Of course, the key to seamless teamwork is that everyone understands their own and each other’s roles and responsibilities (Mitchell et al. 2012). The transparency of these aspects cannot be overemphasised.

Everyone has a responsibility to help the team succeed and achieve its goals, and individuals must be able to rely on the team to support them in their tasks. When team members complement each other’s skills, interact and work well together, everyone’s tolerance for uncertainty and risk increases (Kuntz, Malinen & Näswall 2017). Overcoming PIONEER challenges together builds motivation, commitment and a positive outlook for the future.

Information about the author

Mika Launikari (PhD, M.Sc.) is a Leading Expert at Laurea UAS, responsible for European cooperation in higher education with the PIONEER Alliance.

Bibliography

URN http://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fe2025032120013
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Mika Launikari
mika.launikari(at)laurea.fi
Leading Expert

collaboration PIONEER Alliance superpowers

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